


Promise

by kaliebee



Series: Tumblr Prompts [7]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, sooo it's not exactly canon compliant butttttttt oh well, sort of angsty and fluffy ig?, this was written before S2 came out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-05-03 06:51:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14563395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaliebee/pseuds/kaliebee
Summary: Screams. Mike is off the couch and rushing over to Eleven's little tent in seconds, leaving the other boys to groggily roll about, moaning in confusion. He wraps his arms around El and pulls her into a sitting position, trying his best to calm her down in her sleep.





	Promise

Screams.

Mike is off the couch and rushing over to Eleven's little tent in seconds, leaving the other boys to groggily roll about, moaning in confusion. He wraps his arms around El and pulls her into a sitting position, trying his best to calm her down in her sleep. He notices Nancy run down the steps, followed by his parents, but he ignores them, focusing on just El and her shattered screams.

Will buckles, covering his ears in pain. Lucas rushes over, rubbing her arms gently, murmuring quiet words, while Dustin dodges flying figurines and takes her other side. Nancy forces her parents back upstairs, tells them that she'll take care of it. And Mike, Mike just holds her, stroking her hair and whispering _wake up, El. You're okay, you're okay, just wake up._

It takes a couple of minutes, but they finally ease her into consciousness. She's crying and whimpering and _the bad men, the bad men are coming for me!_ and Mike is shaking because _no_ , that part of their lives is supposed to over, they're supposed to be normal. It's been a year since everything happened, since Eleven killed the Demogorgon, eight months since Eleven came back into their lives and everything became decidedly normal. It was supposed to stay that way.

Dustin and Lucas pull away from the two, tug on Will's arm, help him up the stairs. Will isn't always able to handle Eleven when she uses her powers, not after everything that happened in the Upside Down. And it doesn't help that a _Mike and Eleven_ moment is coming. At this point, all three boys can sense when one is coming. They've decided it's their own superpowers.

Mike barely notices the three boys leaving the room, ignores Nancy standing by the staircase observing them. He just holds Eleven, whispers comforting things until finally she's coherent enough to understand where she's at. And when she just looks up at him, tears still escaping those pretty brown eyes, he understands. He doesn't ask questions, he doesn't pressure her, he just whispers _I'm here_ , and she just grips him like he's the only thing keeping her alive, keeping her from going back to the Upside Down.

Nancy watches, chewing her lip thoughtfully with her arms crossed firmly over her chest. She wants to leave, let them alone, but her parents would kill her if she did, so she stays and watches Mike and Eleven hold each other like the very world depends on it. She hates that her little brother and his best friend/crush have to go through this, they're too young to have nightmares this intense, they're too young to have seen what they've seen in their life, _they're too young._

Nancy can't help but wish she could go over there and help them, talk to them. But she'll never understand what they went through during the four months they were separated. She can never understand the mind games the Upside Down played with Mike in his nightmares, never understand what Eleven went through on the physical plane of the Upside Down.

But they understand each other, so Nancy sits on the couch, folds one leg under the other, and looks the other way.

Mike hums quietly, asks if she wants Eggos, her comfort food even now, and she just shakes her head. _Don't leave me_ , she whispers. So he nods and impulsively kisses her cheek before settling his chin in her shoulder. He rubs her back gently, something he knows she likes, and just talks. They've done this little dance enough that he knows which stories are her favorites, which she loves the most. He reminisces about the time she flipped that truck, her first time eating Eggos, how she reacted her first time listening to Elvis Presley.

And soon enough El stops shaking, stops crying, and loosens her grip on him enough for the two of them to reposition themselves, the two of them lying down and her head against his chest, his arm awkwardly wrapped around her. Slowly his words begin to slur, become a little more incoherent, and her breathing evens out, coming out in small puffs. And right before she succumbs to sleep he whispers _we'll get through this together, El. We'll be okay._

_Promise?_ she whispers, her voice cracking as she stares up at him.

And he whispers back _Promise._

It takes Nancy a couple minutes to notice the lack of voices, and when she glances over her shoulder she sees Mike and Eleven asleep, snuggled into one another. And as she goes upstairs to tell the boys they can come back down, she's sure that at least for tonight, there won't be anymore nightmares for the two. Whether that will hold true for herself and the other boys remains to be seen, though.


End file.
